Study of Social Factors for Persistence of Stigma among Tuberculosis Patients

Background: TB patients experience psychological and social sufferings and their basic rights may be negated. Amongst problems met by TB patients, social stigma has been increasingly recognized. Aim: Thus this study was planned to study the social factors behind persistence of stigma among tuberculosis patients in our society. Methods: Study subjects were randomly selected and interviewed when they visited the DOTS center. Pre-structured, pretested questionnaire was used for data collection. The questionnaire consisted of questions related to: Socio-demographic profile, Treatment history and Social stigma among TB patients attending DOTS centre. Results: Forty-four subjects were afraid of disclosing disease to friends. Seventy percent disclosed their disease to friends. Over ninety percent of friends behaved normal to them. Over fifty percent of them were afraid to disclose the status at their workplace. 56.6% subjects disclosed their ailment at their workplace. 50 percent of co-workers avoided them after knowing the disease status whereas a few isolated themselves.27% of the subjects felt bad about others behavior towards them. 25% of participants blamed themselves guilty for this. 14% of the families reacted in the form of isolation. 78% of unmarried subjects were worried about their marriage in the future. Conclusions: Keeping factors behind such stigma in mind, we found scope to improve various aspects like motivate patient’s family to provide family support, reducing negative reactions of the family.